Vision Introduction

What does Vision do?

Vision is software allowing people with different kinds of color blindness (colour vision deficiency) to see more colors.
Vision provides solutions to some of the everyday problems experienced by colour blind people. People with various types of colour deficiency could benefit from the use of Vision software including those affected by Tritanopia (blue colour vision deficiency), Deuteranopia (green), Protanopia (red).
People generally have the assumption that if you suffer from blue-yellow color blindness these are the only colors you have trouble seeing. But that’s wrong. Color blindness doesn’t relate to just two color shades you can’t distinguish, it is the whole color spectrum which is affected.
There are close to 300 million people who are colorblind and struggle every day. Many of them are prohibited from becoming pilots, scientists, doctors, police officers, firefighters, electricians, etc.
It is these people that Vision is aiming to assist, by making the world a much more colourful and better place for them.

What is colour blindness?

Colour blindness is usually an inherited condition (you’re born with it) and there is no cure. It’s caused by faulty gene sequencing in the DNA of the X-chromosome. Men have only one X-chromosome but women have two.

For a woman to be colour blind she must inherit the condition on both X-chromosomes and this explains why colour blindness is much more common in men.

We have three types of cone cells in the retinas of our eyes which allow us to see colour. Each type detects either red, green or blue light. In normal colour vision the red, green and blue cones work together letting us see the full spectrum of colours.

In colour vision deficiency, the faulty sequencing means one type of cone cell can’t recognise which wavelength of light it’s receiving. So the brain receives incorrect information, resulting in someone with colour vision defficiency being unable to distinguish between colours normally.

Blue blindness and total lack of colour vision (monochromacy) are rare, but red and green colour vision deficiencies are very common.

Colour blindness can sometimes happen because of other medical conditions such as diabetes and multiple sclerosis and as a side-effect of some drugs and medications such as chloroquine.

Children with other visual impairments, such as glaucoma and retinitis pigmentosa, are more likely to have colour vision defects. Acquired colour vision deficiency may not present in the same way as genetic red/green colour blindness – different colours may be affected, usually blues and yellows.

What do colour blind people see?

Colour blind people can usually see clearly and in focus. To them, what they see is normal, so it’s not unusual for colour blind people to reach adulthood without realising they are colour blind. Often people only discover they are colour blind when they apply for certain jobs (such as the armed services) and the diagnosis can come as a shock.

It’s a common myth that people with colour blindness only confuse reds and greens. People with red and green types of colour vision deficiency actually experience problems with a wide range of colours. Greens, browns, oranges, yellows and reds can be easily mixed up because all these colours are seen as shades of ‘muddy’ green. There are many surprising combinations which often confuse colour blind people. For example, blues and purples/deep pinks are often mixed up. This is because pinks and purples are blue mixed with red. Red is a colour which colour blind people don’t see, so purple can appear as blue.

Pastel colours generally all appear grey.

Red/green colour blindness is a generic term for different types and severities of colour blindness, so people with colour vision deficiency don’t all see colours in the same way as each other. For example green deficients can mistake greens for greys or even pinks, whereas red deficients will sometimes confuse reds with black.

Why does it matter?

Colour is a fundamental tool in society. Taking just education as an example – educators depend upon on the ability of pupils to be able to distinguish between primary colours from the earliest stages of their education. If we think about how children are taught in the early years even the most basic instructions often include colour (for example, pick up the red brick).

• before reading, we encourage children to order things by forming colour patterns with beads
• colour is used to describe almost everything, from the big brown dog to the green door for the toilet; and
• we ask young children to fill in colouring sheets in specific colours and sing songs about the colours of the rainbow

If children aren’t ‘getting’ a percentage of what we are saying, they can’t learn to full capacity. This can undermine their confidence at an impressionable age and give a poor foundation for future learning.

As children progress through school, ability to differentiate between colours becomes even more important. Without correct support they are often unable to understand information in textbooks, on the whiteboard, in websites and in software.

Until recently colour blindness was not considered to be either a special educational need or a disability. In certain countries now the relevant educational authorities  recognise that colour vision deficiency can fall under both definitions.

In addition in the years of adulthood many of the colourblind people are prohibited from becoming pilots, scientists, doctors, police officers, firefighters, electricians, etc.